Outrageous Fashion Week Runways & Stages

Totally '80s: An homage to '80s pop stars—including Madonna, Annie Lennox, and Boy George—John Paul Gaultier's runway featured, among other oddities, a tableau of dancers hanging from scaffolding.

Windy City: Using wind turbines and faux solar panels, Karl Lagerfeld transformed the Chanel runway into a model for sustainable energy, albeit one that didn't actually work.

Going Down: With four working escalators at the top of the stage, the Louis Vuitton runway then gave way to a yellow-and-white-checkered floor that matched the patterns on the models' clothing.

Divine Intervention: At Givenchy, an imposing organ was placed in the center of the runway, creating a solemn, sacred mood that complemented the austere black, gray and white clothes.

Optical Illusions: At Jason Wu, models emerged from behind mirrors that reflected their retreating forms. At times, it was difficult to tell which was real—the models or the women in the mirrors.

Welcome to the Funhouse: Recalling the mod style of 1960s it girls like Edie Sedgwick and Peggy Moffitt, Marc Jacobs' op-art-inspired collection was shown on a triangular runway.

Mapped Out: In London, designer Edeline Lee staged her spring 2013 show not on a runway but in a room at the Royal Geographical Society in London, where models plotted routes on maps and globes scattered around the room.

Soap Opera: In Paris, Rick Owens' show began with a wall of foam that turned into a floor of suds. Using technology from Ibiza’s infamous foam parties, the effect in Paris was simply celestial.

Lights Out: For the finale of his show, Alexander Wang sent out a fleet of platinum blond amazons, then cut the lights, revealing that their garments actually glowed in the dark.